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Monday, 31 October 2016

2017 Power Rangers Movie Toys at MCM London Comic Con

This past weekend was host to the October MCM London Comic Con, and over the past few years the show has grown significantly in size. As well as appearances from various anime and game distributors, the show now also features official representatives from the likes of Good Smile Company, Tamashii Nations and Bandai UK. This year Bandai UK were of particular note, as with them they brought along an exclusive first look at some of the forthcoming 2017 Power Rangers Movie toys due for release very soon. This selection included the 6” Legacy figures (previously seen at cons such as SDCC and NYCC) as well as the debut of the deluxe Red Ranger Power Sword, Morpher and T-Rex Zord!

Read on to check out some quick iPhone shots of the items on display, as well as some general first impressions on each of them.

Legacy Ranger Figures

The Legacy range has already been going down a treat with new versions of the Mighty Morphin, Ninja Storm and In Space teams and now that quality continues onward in the 2017 movie line! These 6” figures sport around 18 points of articulation and are really nicely detailed with the textured strips the movie suits have. With no white to break up the solid colour like the TV suits the new looks do take a bit of getting used to, but at least the silver sections are there to give them a little bit of variation. We know from NYCC that the Red Ranger will include a Power Sword accessory, but what the rest will come with is still to be revealed.

Out of all the toys that were on display at Comic Con these were definitely the winners as far as I’m concerned – affordable but nicely detailed, with a good spread of articulation that’ll satisfy both children and collectors alike. They might not be S.H. Figuarts quality, but Bandai have definitely been closing the gap between the two in recent years to provide a viable alternative that doesn’t suffer from too much of a quality drop.

Red Ranger Power Sword

Roleplay weapons are always a big seller when it comes to Power Rangers, so it’s no surprise to see the Power Sword among the first wave of movie toys. It’s worth bearing in mind that this is a kids’ roleplay item, so is fairly diminutive in terms of size. Personally I wouldn’t be surprised if a full-sized replica for adult collectors comes out somewhere down the line, but for now this version isn’t looking particularly shabby either.

The sword was notable among what was on display for being the only to have its electronic features shown off somewhat, with the five blue LED lights running down the blade activating at certain intervals. Solicitations say the sword will have both “training” and “battle” modes, each featuring different sound effects enhanced by motion-sensors.

Power Morpher with Coins

The Power Morpher comes packaged with all five Power Coins (each featuring a faint image of their respective dinosaur that can’t really been seen when not in the Morpher), which when inserted activate LED lights and sounds from the film (neither of which were shown off at the event). At the top of the Morpher is a rather obtrusive lever, which most have theorised will make the coin spin as well as activate the aforementioned sound effects.

While I’m certainly one to appreciate the more alien aesthetic the movie Morpher is going for, it doesn’t change the fact that the toy looks rather plain in comparison to its TV counterpart. Both the morpher and the coins don’t have a whole lot of visual appeal separated, and the glossy grey plastic emphasises the whole “toy” quality of the whole thing. With a better look at the electronics this item might have a bit more going for it, but simply as a display piece this was certainly the most underwhelming of the bunch.

T-Rex Zord

The techno-organic look of these new movie zords has already managed to cause a sizeable divide in the Power Rangers fandom. Some dig the Zoids-esque (complete with cockpit bubble) the direction the zords have gone in, while others are already writing them off as Transformers: Age of Extinction Dinobot rip-offs. Personally I’m withholding judgement until we get a look of the actual CGI models, because as far as detail goes this figure REALLY doesn’t offer much insight. For a fairly expensive (RRP is around $40) figure it’s pretty lacking in both moulded and painted detail, sporting huge sections of unpainted plastic. It does however have plenty in the way of features, with three separate missile launchers as well as a mouth cockpit able to hold the (included but not pictured or on show) 2” red ranger figure. The missile launchers aren’t going to appeal all that much to collectors, but as far as kid appeal goes it’s a classic gimmick that’s withstood the test of time. Solicitations have also confirmed that the toy will have a sound feature, however this was not demonstrated at the event.

A good look at the Zord also confirmed that this is indeed a Megazord component, as it not only features a number of Zord Builder ports but also houses a (very poorly concealed) Megazord head within its chest. Much like the T-Rex itself the Megazord head looks to feature very minimal paint apps, so we can only hope that this is either due to it merely being a prototype or that Bandai have gone old-school and will be providing a sticker sheet to give this guy a bit more colour.

One thing this figure does have going for it though is size. Comfortably taking up the length/width of a display case on its own, the movie T-Rex is perhaps the biggest Megazord component seen so far. Solicitations say that the combined Megazord will stand at a mighty 24” tall, so it’s no wonder that this central component is so impressive in terms of scale.

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The Power Rangers movie toys are estimated to hit the US at the beginning of December, and hopefully a UK/worldwide release won’t be too far behind! Thanks again to Bandai UK for bringing these items to MCM, and for taking part in an excellent weekend event.